At the end of 2021 I made it a goal for myself to start going on job interviews as practice for the future. Since I was about to finish my master’s degree I thought it was time for a change and I started feeling ready for the next step in my career. I applied for a few jobs and even landed some interviews but those didn’t lead anywhere (Yes, I got rejected UGHHH). As I kept looking one night, I stumbled across a job opening that looked interesting to me. After reading the requirements, it looked like I could be a good candidate even though there were some requirements I didn’t fully meet. I decided to apply anyway. To my surprise I landed a zoom interview. In all honesty, I was excited but not too excited because of my past experiences where I didn’t land the job and because of those small areas where I felt I didn’t quite fit the position, but as always I decided to just give it my all. I prepared for the interview and the day came and I was ready for it (or so I thought).
The interview was flowing properly (as most do) until I got asked the one question that made me stumble. The question went as follows, “what is one thing you’ve seen on our website that you think is interesting about our organization”. At that moment, I thought to myself, “rookie mistake!” I hadn’t properly researched the organization’s website!!! This is the one piece of advice I always give when it comes to interviews. That prior to any job interview you should do your research and be prepared to talk about what you learned so that you can impress the interviewers and show that you did your research. Well, guess what, I didn’t.
At that moment, I was so mad at myself for not knowing this prior or having it pulled up in the back of my screen (I mean come on, it was a zoom interview!) Anyways, there was nothing I could do at that very moment other than to be honest. So, that’s what I did. I told them that I didn’t have a chance to look at their website but that because I worked in a similar organization as theirs, that I was very excited about what they do and that it would be an amazing opportunity to work with them.
Did this work? Well, I can’t tell you what they probably thought about me after that moment but, what I can tell you is that I changed my approach to job interviews. From the very beginning I wasn’t worried too much about it because I felt that it wasn’t in my hands whether they hired me or not. All I could do was be honest, and share what I have learned throughout my career, and that’s exactly what I did. I was honest, I shared my experiences, or lack thereof, but overall, I shared my eagerness to grow in my career and to learn and my ability to work with a team.
Don’t make the mistake that I made at this job interview. I was truly embarrassed. Good news is that I got the job and now, I get to work hard and confirm that they didn’t make a mistake by hiring me.
Overall, it’s going great and I am very happy and learning a lot!
I guess the moral of the story is that we all make mistakes and yes, the world moves on (even though in that moment it sure doesn’t feel like it).
